Ruling out a third term for himself, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said he would hand over the baton to the next prime minister candidate he hoped will come from the UPA, while predicting it will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as PM.

This he said to his first press conference in the New Year which had earlier speculated that he may resign to pave way for the young Congress leadership to take charge. But he ruled that out saying he would complete his full term before calling it a day.

“Strength is not presiding over mass massacre of citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad,” a usually reticent PM said, referring to the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat.

Usually quiet, Manmohan Singh was quite aggressive both on Modi and his decision to hear the advices of Congress president.” There is nothing wrong if the Congress President or Rahul Gandhi have an opinion for the government which sin line with our plan:”

The Congress he said had offered its apology to the 1984 anti Sikh riots, in an obvious reference to Modi.

Modi, now BJP’s PM candidate, has been criticised for not doing enough to stop the riots.

In his first press conference this year, which had triggered speculation that he would make way for Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, he ruled himself out as the PM candidate if the UPA returns to power.

Rahul Gandhi has outstanding credentials to be PM said Manmohan Singh. He said Rahul has outstanding credentials to be the PM candidate and said the party will declare its PM pick at an appropriate time.

Starting the presser on a positive note, the former finance minister credited with ushering India into economic liberalization said: “I do believe we are set for better times.”He said many steps have been taken to remove the domestic constraints that were hindering growth. In the end he said history will judge him in a better way than what media did.